Singing Along the Journey

Author: @susansevier

This time is ours whether we want it or not…

Indulge me for a moment, because, the following words express my own struggle with the times in which we live. I, like Flannery O'Connor**, only know clearly what I believe when I write about it.  So this is my own wake-up call, offered to myself, and to anyone who, like me, is watching with pain and sorrow the events unfolding in our world. Yesterday was World Refugee Day.  The day before, the current administration withdrew our country's participation from the one place in the world where governments come together and struggle with issues of humanity, the UNHCR, an imperfect, human institution, but the best we have been able to assemble…
Read More

Fire, the Great Creator

There's been a lot of talk about fire lately.  First, today is the feast of Pentecost, the day when, in the tradition of the church, the period of transition between the resurrection of Jesus as the Christ and the moment when the Holy Spirit descended as the flame of ministry and carried the apostles into the world to tell what we Christians call the Good News, or the Gospel (Acts 2:1-21). And then there were the great words from Presiding Bishop Curry's wedding sermon heard round the world, quoting the work of Jesuit priest Teilhard de Chardin when he said:  "Fire makes that possible, and de Chardin said fire was one…
Read More

Holding and being held…with God’s help

Apparently, May is a milestone month for me.   It was in May, too long ago to mention the date, that I was first baptized and confirmed at the Ruskin Heights Presbyterian Church. I was 12 years old. And then, it was in May of 2010, that I was, as the Baptists say, licensed to the Gospel ministry, something more akin to becoming an elder in the Presbyterian Church or a Deacon in other traditions, a type of recognition of ministry without the necessary academic degrees. So you will not be surprised when I say that it was in May 2014, after a decision to pursue a seminary education (a decision…
Read More

Broken shards and forgiveness with a catchy beat…

And for days, my ear worm has been set on an old, old song from my days as a worship leader in a Unity School Church.  I had occasion in conversation to use a phrase that I don't use very often these days -- you are a beloved Child of God.  And that set off a firestorm of musical remembrance that has continued for days as every fiber of my being joins in the chorus of "I am the radiant life of God," written by Georgiana Tree West back in the 1930's at the beginnings of the Unity movement.  If you dare, you can listen to a great performance of…
Read More

Who are you…and why do you do it?

That question...I've written about it before.  And again, before.  And I most assuredly write about it again. Truly, it is a theme through most of what I (well, not just me) do...this idea of our identity, as people of faith, as people who live an incarnated existence, as followers of Jesus.  It is a question to which I do not expect to find an answer that endures for long; the answer has always been, for me, a moving target, often changing slightly with each breath that I take. So, obviously, when I hear the words of John 1:19-28, well, I just cannot help but consider the question again.  Where do…
Read More

Telling the sacred story, Part 1

This is the first of a series that began as an exercise -- a training exercise for those pursuing a call to spiritual companioning (or, as it is often called, spiritual direction).  Living into the charism of a listening ministry requires of all of us that we pursue, each and every day, the continued path of our own spiritual formation.  My telling of my own sacred story is a result of just that formation project and the kind of ongoing work that I do.  I heard wise words this morning, from the Rev. Michele H. Morgan at St. Mark's Episcopal Church.  She was talking about the Gospel text of the…
Read More

Giant fishes and soldiers…oh my!

I see at least ten stories a week like this – the “just discovered at…” kind of archaeological announcement. I fell in love with the lure of the ancient long ago, starting my academic career as a history major and ending it with a degree in Middle Eastern Studies. This story was different, though. There, on my screen, was an image made of tiny little pieces of beautiful glass, an image like I had never seen before, with a headline that shouted “Earliest Mosaic of Jonah and the Whale Found in Galilee Synagogue (The Times of Israel, July 7, 2017). This is my kind of click-bait. And so I read…
Read More

Will you hear my confession?

I am not one to write about current events.  I have no pulpit; I am not a public figure.  And so, usually, I consider that what I have to say about the state of the world is, well, for the small circle of those around me, family, friends, acquaintances.    I stand by my belief that we are all -- ALL -- God's children and worthy of the love that is offered us.  And yes, I know that not all are willing or capable of accepting that love and the responsibilities that come with it.  That may be, for me, the ultimate definition of the word evil -- because that…
Read More

Primary Questions: What Do You Mean by Freedom?

Every day this week and last, when I put on the funny looking bicycle helmet and tentatively climb aboard my bright red cruiser to head to the beach, I find that my mind is flooded with a single question:  why, my friend, do you drive all this way and go to all this trouble just to do this one thing? Yes, I am on vacation.  And I am on vacation in one of my favorite places.  I come here over and over again, whenever I can.  I don't golf, I don't play tennis, and really, I don't swim.  I come here for another reason.  I come here to do one…
Read More

Me and contemplative prayer — a love-hate relationship

I begin with this title because it is my truth.  As a spiritual director, I am often asked about contemplative prayer as a practice.  And, if I tell the truth about it, most of my own seeking life, I have danced a couple of different dances with these ideas, contemplation and contemplative prayer.  One dance looks like an angry Tarantella, with contemplation in the role of the spider.  The other dance looks a lot more like the pas de deux from a grand ballet.  In some situations, the idea of what it means to live in contemplation as expressed by teachers or groups has made me feel excluded, an outsider, because…
Read More

This time is ours whether we want it or not…

Indulge me for a moment, because, the following words express my own struggle with the times in which we live. I, like Flannery O'Connor**, only know clearly what I believe when I write about it.  So this is my own wake-up call, offered to myself, and to anyone who, like me, is watching with pain and sorrow the events unfolding in our world. Yesterday was World Refugee Day.  The day before, the current administration withdrew our country's participation from the one place in the world where governments come together and struggle with issues of humanity, the UNHCR, an imperfect, human institution, but the best we have been able to assemble…
Read More

Fire, the Great Creator

There's been a lot of talk about fire lately.  First, today is the feast of Pentecost, the day when, in the tradition of the church, the period of transition between the resurrection of Jesus as the Christ and the moment when the Holy Spirit descended as the flame of ministry and carried the apostles into the world to tell what we Christians call the Good News, or the Gospel (Acts 2:1-21). And then there were the great words from Presiding Bishop Curry's wedding sermon heard round the world, quoting the work of Jesuit priest Teilhard de Chardin when he said:  "Fire makes that possible, and de Chardin said fire was one…
Read More

Holding and being held…with God’s help

Apparently, May is a milestone month for me.   It was in May, too long ago to mention the date, that I was first baptized and confirmed at the Ruskin Heights Presbyterian Church. I was 12 years old. And then, it was in May of 2010, that I was, as the Baptists say, licensed to the Gospel ministry, something more akin to becoming an elder in the Presbyterian Church or a Deacon in other traditions, a type of recognition of ministry without the necessary academic degrees. So you will not be surprised when I say that it was in May 2014, after a decision to pursue a seminary education (a decision…
Read More

Broken shards and forgiveness with a catchy beat…

And for days, my ear worm has been set on an old, old song from my days as a worship leader in a Unity School Church.  I had occasion in conversation to use a phrase that I don't use very often these days -- you are a beloved Child of God.  And that set off a firestorm of musical remembrance that has continued for days as every fiber of my being joins in the chorus of "I am the radiant life of God," written by Georgiana Tree West back in the 1930's at the beginnings of the Unity movement.  If you dare, you can listen to a great performance of…
Read More

Who are you…and why do you do it?

That question...I've written about it before.  And again, before.  And I most assuredly write about it again. Truly, it is a theme through most of what I (well, not just me) do...this idea of our identity, as people of faith, as people who live an incarnated existence, as followers of Jesus.  It is a question to which I do not expect to find an answer that endures for long; the answer has always been, for me, a moving target, often changing slightly with each breath that I take. So, obviously, when I hear the words of John 1:19-28, well, I just cannot help but consider the question again.  Where do…
Read More

Telling the sacred story, Part 1

This is the first of a series that began as an exercise -- a training exercise for those pursuing a call to spiritual companioning (or, as it is often called, spiritual direction).  Living into the charism of a listening ministry requires of all of us that we pursue, each and every day, the continued path of our own spiritual formation.  My telling of my own sacred story is a result of just that formation project and the kind of ongoing work that I do.  I heard wise words this morning, from the Rev. Michele H. Morgan at St. Mark's Episcopal Church.  She was talking about the Gospel text of the…
Read More

Giant fishes and soldiers…oh my!

I see at least ten stories a week like this – the “just discovered at…” kind of archaeological announcement. I fell in love with the lure of the ancient long ago, starting my academic career as a history major and ending it with a degree in Middle Eastern Studies. This story was different, though. There, on my screen, was an image made of tiny little pieces of beautiful glass, an image like I had never seen before, with a headline that shouted “Earliest Mosaic of Jonah and the Whale Found in Galilee Synagogue (The Times of Israel, July 7, 2017). This is my kind of click-bait. And so I read…
Read More

Will you hear my confession?

I am not one to write about current events.  I have no pulpit; I am not a public figure.  And so, usually, I consider that what I have to say about the state of the world is, well, for the small circle of those around me, family, friends, acquaintances.    I stand by my belief that we are all -- ALL -- God's children and worthy of the love that is offered us.  And yes, I know that not all are willing or capable of accepting that love and the responsibilities that come with it.  That may be, for me, the ultimate definition of the word evil -- because that…
Read More

Primary Questions: What Do You Mean by Freedom?

Every day this week and last, when I put on the funny looking bicycle helmet and tentatively climb aboard my bright red cruiser to head to the beach, I find that my mind is flooded with a single question:  why, my friend, do you drive all this way and go to all this trouble just to do this one thing? Yes, I am on vacation.  And I am on vacation in one of my favorite places.  I come here over and over again, whenever I can.  I don't golf, I don't play tennis, and really, I don't swim.  I come here for another reason.  I come here to do one…
Read More

Me and contemplative prayer — a love-hate relationship

I begin with this title because it is my truth.  As a spiritual director, I am often asked about contemplative prayer as a practice.  And, if I tell the truth about it, most of my own seeking life, I have danced a couple of different dances with these ideas, contemplation and contemplative prayer.  One dance looks like an angry Tarantella, with contemplation in the role of the spider.  The other dance looks a lot more like the pas de deux from a grand ballet.  In some situations, the idea of what it means to live in contemplation as expressed by teachers or groups has made me feel excluded, an outsider, because…
Read More

This time is ours whether we want it or not…

Indulge me for a moment, because, the following words express my own struggle with the times in which we live. I, like Flannery O'Connor**, only know clearly what I believe when I write about it.  So this is my own wake-up call, offered to myself, and to anyone who, like me, is watching with pain and sorrow the events unfolding in our world. Yesterday was World Refugee Day.  The day before, the current administration withdrew our country's participation from the one place in the world where governments come together and struggle with issues of humanity, the UNHCR, an imperfect, human institution, but the best we have been able to assemble…
Read More

Fire, the Great Creator

There's been a lot of talk about fire lately.  First, today is the feast of Pentecost, the day when, in the tradition of the church, the period of transition between the resurrection of Jesus as the Christ and the moment when the Holy Spirit descended as the flame of ministry and carried the apostles into the world to tell what we Christians call the Good News, or the Gospel (Acts 2:1-21). And then there were the great words from Presiding Bishop Curry's wedding sermon heard round the world, quoting the work of Jesuit priest Teilhard de Chardin when he said:  "Fire makes that possible, and de Chardin said fire was one…
Read More

Holding and being held…with God’s help

Apparently, May is a milestone month for me.   It was in May, too long ago to mention the date, that I was first baptized and confirmed at the Ruskin Heights Presbyterian Church. I was 12 years old. And then, it was in May of 2010, that I was, as the Baptists say, licensed to the Gospel ministry, something more akin to becoming an elder in the Presbyterian Church or a Deacon in other traditions, a type of recognition of ministry without the necessary academic degrees. So you will not be surprised when I say that it was in May 2014, after a decision to pursue a seminary education (a decision…
Read More

Broken shards and forgiveness with a catchy beat…

And for days, my ear worm has been set on an old, old song from my days as a worship leader in a Unity School Church.  I had occasion in conversation to use a phrase that I don't use very often these days -- you are a beloved Child of God.  And that set off a firestorm of musical remembrance that has continued for days as every fiber of my being joins in the chorus of "I am the radiant life of God," written by Georgiana Tree West back in the 1930's at the beginnings of the Unity movement.  If you dare, you can listen to a great performance of…
Read More

Who are you…and why do you do it?

That question...I've written about it before.  And again, before.  And I most assuredly write about it again. Truly, it is a theme through most of what I (well, not just me) do...this idea of our identity, as people of faith, as people who live an incarnated existence, as followers of Jesus.  It is a question to which I do not expect to find an answer that endures for long; the answer has always been, for me, a moving target, often changing slightly with each breath that I take. So, obviously, when I hear the words of John 1:19-28, well, I just cannot help but consider the question again.  Where do…
Read More

Telling the sacred story, Part 1

This is the first of a series that began as an exercise -- a training exercise for those pursuing a call to spiritual companioning (or, as it is often called, spiritual direction).  Living into the charism of a listening ministry requires of all of us that we pursue, each and every day, the continued path of our own spiritual formation.  My telling of my own sacred story is a result of just that formation project and the kind of ongoing work that I do.  I heard wise words this morning, from the Rev. Michele H. Morgan at St. Mark's Episcopal Church.  She was talking about the Gospel text of the…
Read More

Giant fishes and soldiers…oh my!

I see at least ten stories a week like this – the “just discovered at…” kind of archaeological announcement. I fell in love with the lure of the ancient long ago, starting my academic career as a history major and ending it with a degree in Middle Eastern Studies. This story was different, though. There, on my screen, was an image made of tiny little pieces of beautiful glass, an image like I had never seen before, with a headline that shouted “Earliest Mosaic of Jonah and the Whale Found in Galilee Synagogue (The Times of Israel, July 7, 2017). This is my kind of click-bait. And so I read…
Read More

Will you hear my confession?

I am not one to write about current events.  I have no pulpit; I am not a public figure.  And so, usually, I consider that what I have to say about the state of the world is, well, for the small circle of those around me, family, friends, acquaintances.    I stand by my belief that we are all -- ALL -- God's children and worthy of the love that is offered us.  And yes, I know that not all are willing or capable of accepting that love and the responsibilities that come with it.  That may be, for me, the ultimate definition of the word evil -- because that…
Read More

Primary Questions: What Do You Mean by Freedom?

Every day this week and last, when I put on the funny looking bicycle helmet and tentatively climb aboard my bright red cruiser to head to the beach, I find that my mind is flooded with a single question:  why, my friend, do you drive all this way and go to all this trouble just to do this one thing? Yes, I am on vacation.  And I am on vacation in one of my favorite places.  I come here over and over again, whenever I can.  I don't golf, I don't play tennis, and really, I don't swim.  I come here for another reason.  I come here to do one…
Read More

Me and contemplative prayer — a love-hate relationship

I begin with this title because it is my truth.  As a spiritual director, I am often asked about contemplative prayer as a practice.  And, if I tell the truth about it, most of my own seeking life, I have danced a couple of different dances with these ideas, contemplation and contemplative prayer.  One dance looks like an angry Tarantella, with contemplation in the role of the spider.  The other dance looks a lot more like the pas de deux from a grand ballet.  In some situations, the idea of what it means to live in contemplation as expressed by teachers or groups has made me feel excluded, an outsider, because…
Read More

This time is ours whether we want it or not…

Indulge me for a moment, because, the following words express my own struggle with the times in which we live. I, like Flannery O'Connor**, only know clearly what I believe when I write about it.  So this is my own wake-up call, offered to myself, and to anyone who, like me, is watching with pain and sorrow the events unfolding in our world. Yesterday was World Refugee Day.  The day before, the current administration withdrew our country's participation from the one place in the world where governments come together and struggle with issues of humanity, the UNHCR, an imperfect, human institution, but the best we have been able to assemble…
Read More

Fire, the Great Creator

There's been a lot of talk about fire lately.  First, today is the feast of Pentecost, the day when, in the tradition of the church, the period of transition between the resurrection of Jesus as the Christ and the moment when the Holy Spirit descended as the flame of ministry and carried the apostles into the world to tell what we Christians call the Good News, or the Gospel (Acts 2:1-21). And then there were the great words from Presiding Bishop Curry's wedding sermon heard round the world, quoting the work of Jesuit priest Teilhard de Chardin when he said:  "Fire makes that possible, and de Chardin said fire was one…
Read More

Holding and being held…with God’s help

Apparently, May is a milestone month for me.   It was in May, too long ago to mention the date, that I was first baptized and confirmed at the Ruskin Heights Presbyterian Church. I was 12 years old. And then, it was in May of 2010, that I was, as the Baptists say, licensed to the Gospel ministry, something more akin to becoming an elder in the Presbyterian Church or a Deacon in other traditions, a type of recognition of ministry without the necessary academic degrees. So you will not be surprised when I say that it was in May 2014, after a decision to pursue a seminary education (a decision…
Read More

Broken shards and forgiveness with a catchy beat…

And for days, my ear worm has been set on an old, old song from my days as a worship leader in a Unity School Church.  I had occasion in conversation to use a phrase that I don't use very often these days -- you are a beloved Child of God.  And that set off a firestorm of musical remembrance that has continued for days as every fiber of my being joins in the chorus of "I am the radiant life of God," written by Georgiana Tree West back in the 1930's at the beginnings of the Unity movement.  If you dare, you can listen to a great performance of…
Read More

Who are you…and why do you do it?

That question...I've written about it before.  And again, before.  And I most assuredly write about it again. Truly, it is a theme through most of what I (well, not just me) do...this idea of our identity, as people of faith, as people who live an incarnated existence, as followers of Jesus.  It is a question to which I do not expect to find an answer that endures for long; the answer has always been, for me, a moving target, often changing slightly with each breath that I take. So, obviously, when I hear the words of John 1:19-28, well, I just cannot help but consider the question again.  Where do…
Read More

Telling the sacred story, Part 1

This is the first of a series that began as an exercise -- a training exercise for those pursuing a call to spiritual companioning (or, as it is often called, spiritual direction).  Living into the charism of a listening ministry requires of all of us that we pursue, each and every day, the continued path of our own spiritual formation.  My telling of my own sacred story is a result of just that formation project and the kind of ongoing work that I do.  I heard wise words this morning, from the Rev. Michele H. Morgan at St. Mark's Episcopal Church.  She was talking about the Gospel text of the…
Read More

Giant fishes and soldiers…oh my!

I see at least ten stories a week like this – the “just discovered at…” kind of archaeological announcement. I fell in love with the lure of the ancient long ago, starting my academic career as a history major and ending it with a degree in Middle Eastern Studies. This story was different, though. There, on my screen, was an image made of tiny little pieces of beautiful glass, an image like I had never seen before, with a headline that shouted “Earliest Mosaic of Jonah and the Whale Found in Galilee Synagogue (The Times of Israel, July 7, 2017). This is my kind of click-bait. And so I read…
Read More

Will you hear my confession?

I am not one to write about current events.  I have no pulpit; I am not a public figure.  And so, usually, I consider that what I have to say about the state of the world is, well, for the small circle of those around me, family, friends, acquaintances.    I stand by my belief that we are all -- ALL -- God's children and worthy of the love that is offered us.  And yes, I know that not all are willing or capable of accepting that love and the responsibilities that come with it.  That may be, for me, the ultimate definition of the word evil -- because that…
Read More

Primary Questions: What Do You Mean by Freedom?

Every day this week and last, when I put on the funny looking bicycle helmet and tentatively climb aboard my bright red cruiser to head to the beach, I find that my mind is flooded with a single question:  why, my friend, do you drive all this way and go to all this trouble just to do this one thing? Yes, I am on vacation.  And I am on vacation in one of my favorite places.  I come here over and over again, whenever I can.  I don't golf, I don't play tennis, and really, I don't swim.  I come here for another reason.  I come here to do one…
Read More

Me and contemplative prayer — a love-hate relationship

I begin with this title because it is my truth.  As a spiritual director, I am often asked about contemplative prayer as a practice.  And, if I tell the truth about it, most of my own seeking life, I have danced a couple of different dances with these ideas, contemplation and contemplative prayer.  One dance looks like an angry Tarantella, with contemplation in the role of the spider.  The other dance looks a lot more like the pas de deux from a grand ballet.  In some situations, the idea of what it means to live in contemplation as expressed by teachers or groups has made me feel excluded, an outsider, because…
Read More

This time is ours whether we want it or not…

Indulge me for a moment, because, the following words express my own struggle with the times in which we live. I, like Flannery O'Connor**, only know clearly what I believe when I write about it.  So this is my own wake-up call, offered to myself, and to anyone who, like me, is watching with pain and sorrow the events unfolding in our world. Yesterday was World Refugee Day.  The day before, the current administration withdrew our country's participation from the one place in the world where governments come together and struggle with issues of humanity, the UNHCR, an imperfect, human institution, but the best we have been able to assemble…
Read More

Fire, the Great Creator

There's been a lot of talk about fire lately.  First, today is the feast of Pentecost, the day when, in the tradition of the church, the period of transition between the resurrection of Jesus as the Christ and the moment when the Holy Spirit descended as the flame of ministry and carried the apostles into the world to tell what we Christians call the Good News, or the Gospel (Acts 2:1-21). And then there were the great words from Presiding Bishop Curry's wedding sermon heard round the world, quoting the work of Jesuit priest Teilhard de Chardin when he said:  "Fire makes that possible, and de Chardin said fire was one…
Read More

Holding and being held…with God’s help

Apparently, May is a milestone month for me.   It was in May, too long ago to mention the date, that I was first baptized and confirmed at the Ruskin Heights Presbyterian Church. I was 12 years old. And then, it was in May of 2010, that I was, as the Baptists say, licensed to the Gospel ministry, something more akin to becoming an elder in the Presbyterian Church or a Deacon in other traditions, a type of recognition of ministry without the necessary academic degrees. So you will not be surprised when I say that it was in May 2014, after a decision to pursue a seminary education (a decision…
Read More

Broken shards and forgiveness with a catchy beat…

And for days, my ear worm has been set on an old, old song from my days as a worship leader in a Unity School Church.  I had occasion in conversation to use a phrase that I don't use very often these days -- you are a beloved Child of God.  And that set off a firestorm of musical remembrance that has continued for days as every fiber of my being joins in the chorus of "I am the radiant life of God," written by Georgiana Tree West back in the 1930's at the beginnings of the Unity movement.  If you dare, you can listen to a great performance of…
Read More

Who are you…and why do you do it?

That question...I've written about it before.  And again, before.  And I most assuredly write about it again. Truly, it is a theme through most of what I (well, not just me) do...this idea of our identity, as people of faith, as people who live an incarnated existence, as followers of Jesus.  It is a question to which I do not expect to find an answer that endures for long; the answer has always been, for me, a moving target, often changing slightly with each breath that I take. So, obviously, when I hear the words of John 1:19-28, well, I just cannot help but consider the question again.  Where do…
Read More

Telling the sacred story, Part 1

This is the first of a series that began as an exercise -- a training exercise for those pursuing a call to spiritual companioning (or, as it is often called, spiritual direction).  Living into the charism of a listening ministry requires of all of us that we pursue, each and every day, the continued path of our own spiritual formation.  My telling of my own sacred story is a result of just that formation project and the kind of ongoing work that I do.  I heard wise words this morning, from the Rev. Michele H. Morgan at St. Mark's Episcopal Church.  She was talking about the Gospel text of the…
Read More

Giant fishes and soldiers…oh my!

I see at least ten stories a week like this – the “just discovered at…” kind of archaeological announcement. I fell in love with the lure of the ancient long ago, starting my academic career as a history major and ending it with a degree in Middle Eastern Studies. This story was different, though. There, on my screen, was an image made of tiny little pieces of beautiful glass, an image like I had never seen before, with a headline that shouted “Earliest Mosaic of Jonah and the Whale Found in Galilee Synagogue (The Times of Israel, July 7, 2017). This is my kind of click-bait. And so I read…
Read More

Will you hear my confession?

I am not one to write about current events.  I have no pulpit; I am not a public figure.  And so, usually, I consider that what I have to say about the state of the world is, well, for the small circle of those around me, family, friends, acquaintances.    I stand by my belief that we are all -- ALL -- God's children and worthy of the love that is offered us.  And yes, I know that not all are willing or capable of accepting that love and the responsibilities that come with it.  That may be, for me, the ultimate definition of the word evil -- because that…
Read More

Primary Questions: What Do You Mean by Freedom?

Every day this week and last, when I put on the funny looking bicycle helmet and tentatively climb aboard my bright red cruiser to head to the beach, I find that my mind is flooded with a single question:  why, my friend, do you drive all this way and go to all this trouble just to do this one thing? Yes, I am on vacation.  And I am on vacation in one of my favorite places.  I come here over and over again, whenever I can.  I don't golf, I don't play tennis, and really, I don't swim.  I come here for another reason.  I come here to do one…
Read More

Me and contemplative prayer — a love-hate relationship

I begin with this title because it is my truth.  As a spiritual director, I am often asked about contemplative prayer as a practice.  And, if I tell the truth about it, most of my own seeking life, I have danced a couple of different dances with these ideas, contemplation and contemplative prayer.  One dance looks like an angry Tarantella, with contemplation in the role of the spider.  The other dance looks a lot more like the pas de deux from a grand ballet.  In some situations, the idea of what it means to live in contemplation as expressed by teachers or groups has made me feel excluded, an outsider, because…
Read More

This time is ours whether we want it or not…

Indulge me for a moment, because, the following words express my own struggle with the times in which we live. I, like Flannery O'Connor**, only know clearly what I believe when I write about it.  So this is my own wake-up call, offered to myself, and to anyone who, like me, is watching with pain and sorrow the events unfolding in our world. Yesterday was World Refugee Day.  The day before, the current administration withdrew our country's participation from the one place in the world where governments come together and struggle with issues of humanity, the UNHCR, an imperfect, human institution, but the best we have been able to assemble…
Read More

Fire, the Great Creator

There's been a lot of talk about fire lately.  First, today is the feast of Pentecost, the day when, in the tradition of the church, the period of transition between the resurrection of Jesus as the Christ and the moment when the Holy Spirit descended as the flame of ministry and carried the apostles into the world to tell what we Christians call the Good News, or the Gospel (Acts 2:1-21). And then there were the great words from Presiding Bishop Curry's wedding sermon heard round the world, quoting the work of Jesuit priest Teilhard de Chardin when he said:  "Fire makes that possible, and de Chardin said fire was one…
Read More

Holding and being held…with God’s help

Apparently, May is a milestone month for me.   It was in May, too long ago to mention the date, that I was first baptized and confirmed at the Ruskin Heights Presbyterian Church. I was 12 years old. And then, it was in May of 2010, that I was, as the Baptists say, licensed to the Gospel ministry, something more akin to becoming an elder in the Presbyterian Church or a Deacon in other traditions, a type of recognition of ministry without the necessary academic degrees. So you will not be surprised when I say that it was in May 2014, after a decision to pursue a seminary education (a decision…
Read More

Broken shards and forgiveness with a catchy beat…

And for days, my ear worm has been set on an old, old song from my days as a worship leader in a Unity School Church.  I had occasion in conversation to use a phrase that I don't use very often these days -- you are a beloved Child of God.  And that set off a firestorm of musical remembrance that has continued for days as every fiber of my being joins in the chorus of "I am the radiant life of God," written by Georgiana Tree West back in the 1930's at the beginnings of the Unity movement.  If you dare, you can listen to a great performance of…
Read More

Who are you…and why do you do it?

That question...I've written about it before.  And again, before.  And I most assuredly write about it again. Truly, it is a theme through most of what I (well, not just me) do...this idea of our identity, as people of faith, as people who live an incarnated existence, as followers of Jesus.  It is a question to which I do not expect to find an answer that endures for long; the answer has always been, for me, a moving target, often changing slightly with each breath that I take. So, obviously, when I hear the words of John 1:19-28, well, I just cannot help but consider the question again.  Where do…
Read More

Telling the sacred story, Part 1

This is the first of a series that began as an exercise -- a training exercise for those pursuing a call to spiritual companioning (or, as it is often called, spiritual direction).  Living into the charism of a listening ministry requires of all of us that we pursue, each and every day, the continued path of our own spiritual formation.  My telling of my own sacred story is a result of just that formation project and the kind of ongoing work that I do.  I heard wise words this morning, from the Rev. Michele H. Morgan at St. Mark's Episcopal Church.  She was talking about the Gospel text of the…
Read More

Giant fishes and soldiers…oh my!

I see at least ten stories a week like this – the “just discovered at…” kind of archaeological announcement. I fell in love with the lure of the ancient long ago, starting my academic career as a history major and ending it with a degree in Middle Eastern Studies. This story was different, though. There, on my screen, was an image made of tiny little pieces of beautiful glass, an image like I had never seen before, with a headline that shouted “Earliest Mosaic of Jonah and the Whale Found in Galilee Synagogue (The Times of Israel, July 7, 2017). This is my kind of click-bait. And so I read…
Read More

Will you hear my confession?

I am not one to write about current events.  I have no pulpit; I am not a public figure.  And so, usually, I consider that what I have to say about the state of the world is, well, for the small circle of those around me, family, friends, acquaintances.    I stand by my belief that we are all -- ALL -- God's children and worthy of the love that is offered us.  And yes, I know that not all are willing or capable of accepting that love and the responsibilities that come with it.  That may be, for me, the ultimate definition of the word evil -- because that…
Read More

Primary Questions: What Do You Mean by Freedom?

Every day this week and last, when I put on the funny looking bicycle helmet and tentatively climb aboard my bright red cruiser to head to the beach, I find that my mind is flooded with a single question:  why, my friend, do you drive all this way and go to all this trouble just to do this one thing? Yes, I am on vacation.  And I am on vacation in one of my favorite places.  I come here over and over again, whenever I can.  I don't golf, I don't play tennis, and really, I don't swim.  I come here for another reason.  I come here to do one…
Read More

Me and contemplative prayer — a love-hate relationship

I begin with this title because it is my truth.  As a spiritual director, I am often asked about contemplative prayer as a practice.  And, if I tell the truth about it, most of my own seeking life, I have danced a couple of different dances with these ideas, contemplation and contemplative prayer.  One dance looks like an angry Tarantella, with contemplation in the role of the spider.  The other dance looks a lot more like the pas de deux from a grand ballet.  In some situations, the idea of what it means to live in contemplation as expressed by teachers or groups has made me feel excluded, an outsider, because…
Read More

This time is ours whether we want it or not…

Indulge me for a moment, because, the following words express my own struggle with the times in which we live. I, like Flannery O'Connor**, only know clearly what I believe when I write about it.  So this is my own wake-up call, offered to myself, and to anyone who, like me, is watching with pain and sorrow the events unfolding in our world. Yesterday was World Refugee Day.  The day before, the current administration withdrew our country's participation from the one place in the world where governments come together and struggle with issues of humanity, the UNHCR, an imperfect, human institution, but the best we have been able to assemble…
Read More

Fire, the Great Creator

There's been a lot of talk about fire lately.  First, today is the feast of Pentecost, the day when, in the tradition of the church, the period of transition between the resurrection of Jesus as the Christ and the moment when the Holy Spirit descended as the flame of ministry and carried the apostles into the world to tell what we Christians call the Good News, or the Gospel (Acts 2:1-21). And then there were the great words from Presiding Bishop Curry's wedding sermon heard round the world, quoting the work of Jesuit priest Teilhard de Chardin when he said:  "Fire makes that possible, and de Chardin said fire was one…
Read More

Holding and being held…with God’s help

Apparently, May is a milestone month for me.   It was in May, too long ago to mention the date, that I was first baptized and confirmed at the Ruskin Heights Presbyterian Church. I was 12 years old. And then, it was in May of 2010, that I was, as the Baptists say, licensed to the Gospel ministry, something more akin to becoming an elder in the Presbyterian Church or a Deacon in other traditions, a type of recognition of ministry without the necessary academic degrees. So you will not be surprised when I say that it was in May 2014, after a decision to pursue a seminary education (a decision…
Read More

Broken shards and forgiveness with a catchy beat…

And for days, my ear worm has been set on an old, old song from my days as a worship leader in a Unity School Church.  I had occasion in conversation to use a phrase that I don't use very often these days -- you are a beloved Child of God.  And that set off a firestorm of musical remembrance that has continued for days as every fiber of my being joins in the chorus of "I am the radiant life of God," written by Georgiana Tree West back in the 1930's at the beginnings of the Unity movement.  If you dare, you can listen to a great performance of…
Read More

Who are you…and why do you do it?

That question...I've written about it before.  And again, before.  And I most assuredly write about it again. Truly, it is a theme through most of what I (well, not just me) do...this idea of our identity, as people of faith, as people who live an incarnated existence, as followers of Jesus.  It is a question to which I do not expect to find an answer that endures for long; the answer has always been, for me, a moving target, often changing slightly with each breath that I take. So, obviously, when I hear the words of John 1:19-28, well, I just cannot help but consider the question again.  Where do…
Read More

Telling the sacred story, Part 1

This is the first of a series that began as an exercise -- a training exercise for those pursuing a call to spiritual companioning (or, as it is often called, spiritual direction).  Living into the charism of a listening ministry requires of all of us that we pursue, each and every day, the continued path of our own spiritual formation.  My telling of my own sacred story is a result of just that formation project and the kind of ongoing work that I do.  I heard wise words this morning, from the Rev. Michele H. Morgan at St. Mark's Episcopal Church.  She was talking about the Gospel text of the…
Read More

Giant fishes and soldiers…oh my!

I see at least ten stories a week like this – the “just discovered at…” kind of archaeological announcement. I fell in love with the lure of the ancient long ago, starting my academic career as a history major and ending it with a degree in Middle Eastern Studies. This story was different, though. There, on my screen, was an image made of tiny little pieces of beautiful glass, an image like I had never seen before, with a headline that shouted “Earliest Mosaic of Jonah and the Whale Found in Galilee Synagogue (The Times of Israel, July 7, 2017). This is my kind of click-bait. And so I read…
Read More

Will you hear my confession?

I am not one to write about current events.  I have no pulpit; I am not a public figure.  And so, usually, I consider that what I have to say about the state of the world is, well, for the small circle of those around me, family, friends, acquaintances.    I stand by my belief that we are all -- ALL -- God's children and worthy of the love that is offered us.  And yes, I know that not all are willing or capable of accepting that love and the responsibilities that come with it.  That may be, for me, the ultimate definition of the word evil -- because that…
Read More

Primary Questions: What Do You Mean by Freedom?

Every day this week and last, when I put on the funny looking bicycle helmet and tentatively climb aboard my bright red cruiser to head to the beach, I find that my mind is flooded with a single question:  why, my friend, do you drive all this way and go to all this trouble just to do this one thing? Yes, I am on vacation.  And I am on vacation in one of my favorite places.  I come here over and over again, whenever I can.  I don't golf, I don't play tennis, and really, I don't swim.  I come here for another reason.  I come here to do one…
Read More

Me and contemplative prayer — a love-hate relationship

I begin with this title because it is my truth.  As a spiritual director, I am often asked about contemplative prayer as a practice.  And, if I tell the truth about it, most of my own seeking life, I have danced a couple of different dances with these ideas, contemplation and contemplative prayer.  One dance looks like an angry Tarantella, with contemplation in the role of the spider.  The other dance looks a lot more like the pas de deux from a grand ballet.  In some situations, the idea of what it means to live in contemplation as expressed by teachers or groups has made me feel excluded, an outsider, because…
Read More

This time is ours whether we want it or not…

Indulge me for a moment, because, the following words express my own struggle with the times in which we live. I, like Flannery O'Connor**, only know clearly what I believe when I write about it.  So this is my own wake-up call, offered to myself, and to anyone who, like me, is watching with pain and sorrow the events unfolding in our world. Yesterday was World Refugee Day.  The day before, the current administration withdrew our country's participation from the one place in the world where governments come together and struggle with issues of humanity, the UNHCR, an imperfect, human institution, but the best we have been able to assemble…
Read More

Fire, the Great Creator

There's been a lot of talk about fire lately.  First, today is the feast of Pentecost, the day when, in the tradition of the church, the period of transition between the resurrection of Jesus as the Christ and the moment when the Holy Spirit descended as the flame of ministry and carried the apostles into the world to tell what we Christians call the Good News, or the Gospel (Acts 2:1-21). And then there were the great words from Presiding Bishop Curry's wedding sermon heard round the world, quoting the work of Jesuit priest Teilhard de Chardin when he said:  "Fire makes that possible, and de Chardin said fire was one…
Read More

Holding and being held…with God’s help

Apparently, May is a milestone month for me.   It was in May, too long ago to mention the date, that I was first baptized and confirmed at the Ruskin Heights Presbyterian Church. I was 12 years old. And then, it was in May of 2010, that I was, as the Baptists say, licensed to the Gospel ministry, something more akin to becoming an elder in the Presbyterian Church or a Deacon in other traditions, a type of recognition of ministry without the necessary academic degrees. So you will not be surprised when I say that it was in May 2014, after a decision to pursue a seminary education (a decision…
Read More

Broken shards and forgiveness with a catchy beat…

And for days, my ear worm has been set on an old, old song from my days as a worship leader in a Unity School Church.  I had occasion in conversation to use a phrase that I don't use very often these days -- you are a beloved Child of God.  And that set off a firestorm of musical remembrance that has continued for days as every fiber of my being joins in the chorus of "I am the radiant life of God," written by Georgiana Tree West back in the 1930's at the beginnings of the Unity movement.  If you dare, you can listen to a great performance of…
Read More

Who are you…and why do you do it?

That question...I've written about it before.  And again, before.  And I most assuredly write about it again. Truly, it is a theme through most of what I (well, not just me) do...this idea of our identity, as people of faith, as people who live an incarnated existence, as followers of Jesus.  It is a question to which I do not expect to find an answer that endures for long; the answer has always been, for me, a moving target, often changing slightly with each breath that I take. So, obviously, when I hear the words of John 1:19-28, well, I just cannot help but consider the question again.  Where do…
Read More

Telling the sacred story, Part 1

This is the first of a series that began as an exercise -- a training exercise for those pursuing a call to spiritual companioning (or, as it is often called, spiritual direction).  Living into the charism of a listening ministry requires of all of us that we pursue, each and every day, the continued path of our own spiritual formation.  My telling of my own sacred story is a result of just that formation project and the kind of ongoing work that I do.  I heard wise words this morning, from the Rev. Michele H. Morgan at St. Mark's Episcopal Church.  She was talking about the Gospel text of the…
Read More

Giant fishes and soldiers…oh my!

I see at least ten stories a week like this – the “just discovered at…” kind of archaeological announcement. I fell in love with the lure of the ancient long ago, starting my academic career as a history major and ending it with a degree in Middle Eastern Studies. This story was different, though. There, on my screen, was an image made of tiny little pieces of beautiful glass, an image like I had never seen before, with a headline that shouted “Earliest Mosaic of Jonah and the Whale Found in Galilee Synagogue (The Times of Israel, July 7, 2017). This is my kind of click-bait. And so I read…
Read More

Will you hear my confession?

I am not one to write about current events.  I have no pulpit; I am not a public figure.  And so, usually, I consider that what I have to say about the state of the world is, well, for the small circle of those around me, family, friends, acquaintances.    I stand by my belief that we are all -- ALL -- God's children and worthy of the love that is offered us.  And yes, I know that not all are willing or capable of accepting that love and the responsibilities that come with it.  That may be, for me, the ultimate definition of the word evil -- because that…
Read More

Primary Questions: What Do You Mean by Freedom?

Every day this week and last, when I put on the funny looking bicycle helmet and tentatively climb aboard my bright red cruiser to head to the beach, I find that my mind is flooded with a single question:  why, my friend, do you drive all this way and go to all this trouble just to do this one thing? Yes, I am on vacation.  And I am on vacation in one of my favorite places.  I come here over and over again, whenever I can.  I don't golf, I don't play tennis, and really, I don't swim.  I come here for another reason.  I come here to do one…
Read More

Me and contemplative prayer — a love-hate relationship

I begin with this title because it is my truth.  As a spiritual director, I am often asked about contemplative prayer as a practice.  And, if I tell the truth about it, most of my own seeking life, I have danced a couple of different dances with these ideas, contemplation and contemplative prayer.  One dance looks like an angry Tarantella, with contemplation in the role of the spider.  The other dance looks a lot more like the pas de deux from a grand ballet.  In some situations, the idea of what it means to live in contemplation as expressed by teachers or groups has made me feel excluded, an outsider, because…
Read More

This time is ours whether we want it or not…

Indulge me for a moment, because, the following words express my own struggle with the times in which we live. I, like Flannery O'Connor**, only know clearly what I believe when I write about it.  So this is my own wake-up call, offered to myself, and to anyone who, like me, is watching with pain and sorrow the events unfolding in our world. Yesterday was World Refugee Day.  The day before, the current administration withdrew our country's participation from the one place in the world where governments come together and struggle with issues of humanity, the UNHCR, an imperfect, human institution, but the best we have been able to assemble…
Read More

Fire, the Great Creator

There's been a lot of talk about fire lately.  First, today is the feast of Pentecost, the day when, in the tradition of the church, the period of transition between the resurrection of Jesus as the Christ and the moment when the Holy Spirit descended as the flame of ministry and carried the apostles into the world to tell what we Christians call the Good News, or the Gospel (Acts 2:1-21). And then there were the great words from Presiding Bishop Curry's wedding sermon heard round the world, quoting the work of Jesuit priest Teilhard de Chardin when he said:  "Fire makes that possible, and de Chardin said fire was one…
Read More

Holding and being held…with God’s help

Apparently, May is a milestone month for me.   It was in May, too long ago to mention the date, that I was first baptized and confirmed at the Ruskin Heights Presbyterian Church. I was 12 years old. And then, it was in May of 2010, that I was, as the Baptists say, licensed to the Gospel ministry, something more akin to becoming an elder in the Presbyterian Church or a Deacon in other traditions, a type of recognition of ministry without the necessary academic degrees. So you will not be surprised when I say that it was in May 2014, after a decision to pursue a seminary education (a decision…
Read More

Broken shards and forgiveness with a catchy beat…

And for days, my ear worm has been set on an old, old song from my days as a worship leader in a Unity School Church.  I had occasion in conversation to use a phrase that I don't use very often these days -- you are a beloved Child of God.  And that set off a firestorm of musical remembrance that has continued for days as every fiber of my being joins in the chorus of "I am the radiant life of God," written by Georgiana Tree West back in the 1930's at the beginnings of the Unity movement.  If you dare, you can listen to a great performance of…
Read More

Who are you…and why do you do it?

That question...I've written about it before.  And again, before.  And I most assuredly write about it again. Truly, it is a theme through most of what I (well, not just me) do...this idea of our identity, as people of faith, as people who live an incarnated existence, as followers of Jesus.  It is a question to which I do not expect to find an answer that endures for long; the answer has always been, for me, a moving target, often changing slightly with each breath that I take. So, obviously, when I hear the words of John 1:19-28, well, I just cannot help but consider the question again.  Where do…
Read More

Telling the sacred story, Part 1

This is the first of a series that began as an exercise -- a training exercise for those pursuing a call to spiritual companioning (or, as it is often called, spiritual direction).  Living into the charism of a listening ministry requires of all of us that we pursue, each and every day, the continued path of our own spiritual formation.  My telling of my own sacred story is a result of just that formation project and the kind of ongoing work that I do.  I heard wise words this morning, from the Rev. Michele H. Morgan at St. Mark's Episcopal Church.  She was talking about the Gospel text of the…
Read More

Giant fishes and soldiers…oh my!

I see at least ten stories a week like this – the “just discovered at…” kind of archaeological announcement. I fell in love with the lure of the ancient long ago, starting my academic career as a history major and ending it with a degree in Middle Eastern Studies. This story was different, though. There, on my screen, was an image made of tiny little pieces of beautiful glass, an image like I had never seen before, with a headline that shouted “Earliest Mosaic of Jonah and the Whale Found in Galilee Synagogue (The Times of Israel, July 7, 2017). This is my kind of click-bait. And so I read…
Read More

Will you hear my confession?

I am not one to write about current events.  I have no pulpit; I am not a public figure.  And so, usually, I consider that what I have to say about the state of the world is, well, for the small circle of those around me, family, friends, acquaintances.    I stand by my belief that we are all -- ALL -- God's children and worthy of the love that is offered us.  And yes, I know that not all are willing or capable of accepting that love and the responsibilities that come with it.  That may be, for me, the ultimate definition of the word evil -- because that…
Read More

Primary Questions: What Do You Mean by Freedom?

Every day this week and last, when I put on the funny looking bicycle helmet and tentatively climb aboard my bright red cruiser to head to the beach, I find that my mind is flooded with a single question:  why, my friend, do you drive all this way and go to all this trouble just to do this one thing? Yes, I am on vacation.  And I am on vacation in one of my favorite places.  I come here over and over again, whenever I can.  I don't golf, I don't play tennis, and really, I don't swim.  I come here for another reason.  I come here to do one…
Read More

Me and contemplative prayer — a love-hate relationship

I begin with this title because it is my truth.  As a spiritual director, I am often asked about contemplative prayer as a practice.  And, if I tell the truth about it, most of my own seeking life, I have danced a couple of different dances with these ideas, contemplation and contemplative prayer.  One dance looks like an angry Tarantella, with contemplation in the role of the spider.  The other dance looks a lot more like the pas de deux from a grand ballet.  In some situations, the idea of what it means to live in contemplation as expressed by teachers or groups has made me feel excluded, an outsider, because…
Read More

This time is ours whether we want it or not…

Indulge me for a moment, because, the following words express my own struggle with the times in which we live. I, like Flannery O'Connor**, only know clearly what I believe when I write about it.  So this is my own wake-up call, offered to myself, and to anyone who, like me, is watching with pain and sorrow the events unfolding in our world. Yesterday was World Refugee Day.  The day before, the current administration withdrew our country's participation from the one place in the world where governments come together and struggle with issues of humanity, the UNHCR, an imperfect, human institution, but the best we have been able to assemble…
Read More

Fire, the Great Creator

There's been a lot of talk about fire lately.  First, today is the feast of Pentecost, the day when, in the tradition of the church, the period of transition between the resurrection of Jesus as the Christ and the moment when the Holy Spirit descended as the flame of ministry and carried the apostles into the world to tell what we Christians call the Good News, or the Gospel (Acts 2:1-21). And then there were the great words from Presiding Bishop Curry's wedding sermon heard round the world, quoting the work of Jesuit priest Teilhard de Chardin when he said:  "Fire makes that possible, and de Chardin said fire was one…
Read More

Holding and being held…with God’s help

Apparently, May is a milestone month for me.   It was in May, too long ago to mention the date, that I was first baptized and confirmed at the Ruskin Heights Presbyterian Church. I was 12 years old. And then, it was in May of 2010, that I was, as the Baptists say, licensed to the Gospel ministry, something more akin to becoming an elder in the Presbyterian Church or a Deacon in other traditions, a type of recognition of ministry without the necessary academic degrees. So you will not be surprised when I say that it was in May 2014, after a decision to pursue a seminary education (a decision…
Read More

Broken shards and forgiveness with a catchy beat…

And for days, my ear worm has been set on an old, old song from my days as a worship leader in a Unity School Church.  I had occasion in conversation to use a phrase that I don't use very often these days -- you are a beloved Child of God.  And that set off a firestorm of musical remembrance that has continued for days as every fiber of my being joins in the chorus of "I am the radiant life of God," written by Georgiana Tree West back in the 1930's at the beginnings of the Unity movement.  If you dare, you can listen to a great performance of…
Read More

Who are you…and why do you do it?

That question...I've written about it before.  And again, before.  And I most assuredly write about it again. Truly, it is a theme through most of what I (well, not just me) do...this idea of our identity, as people of faith, as people who live an incarnated existence, as followers of Jesus.  It is a question to which I do not expect to find an answer that endures for long; the answer has always been, for me, a moving target, often changing slightly with each breath that I take. So, obviously, when I hear the words of John 1:19-28, well, I just cannot help but consider the question again.  Where do…
Read More

Telling the sacred story, Part 1

This is the first of a series that began as an exercise -- a training exercise for those pursuing a call to spiritual companioning (or, as it is often called, spiritual direction).  Living into the charism of a listening ministry requires of all of us that we pursue, each and every day, the continued path of our own spiritual formation.  My telling of my own sacred story is a result of just that formation project and the kind of ongoing work that I do.  I heard wise words this morning, from the Rev. Michele H. Morgan at St. Mark's Episcopal Church.  She was talking about the Gospel text of the…
Read More

Giant fishes and soldiers…oh my!

I see at least ten stories a week like this – the “just discovered at…” kind of archaeological announcement. I fell in love with the lure of the ancient long ago, starting my academic career as a history major and ending it with a degree in Middle Eastern Studies. This story was different, though. There, on my screen, was an image made of tiny little pieces of beautiful glass, an image like I had never seen before, with a headline that shouted “Earliest Mosaic of Jonah and the Whale Found in Galilee Synagogue (The Times of Israel, July 7, 2017). This is my kind of click-bait. And so I read…
Read More

Will you hear my confession?

I am not one to write about current events.  I have no pulpit; I am not a public figure.  And so, usually, I consider that what I have to say about the state of the world is, well, for the small circle of those around me, family, friends, acquaintances.    I stand by my belief that we are all -- ALL -- God's children and worthy of the love that is offered us.  And yes, I know that not all are willing or capable of accepting that love and the responsibilities that come with it.  That may be, for me, the ultimate definition of the word evil -- because that…
Read More

Primary Questions: What Do You Mean by Freedom?

Every day this week and last, when I put on the funny looking bicycle helmet and tentatively climb aboard my bright red cruiser to head to the beach, I find that my mind is flooded with a single question:  why, my friend, do you drive all this way and go to all this trouble just to do this one thing? Yes, I am on vacation.  And I am on vacation in one of my favorite places.  I come here over and over again, whenever I can.  I don't golf, I don't play tennis, and really, I don't swim.  I come here for another reason.  I come here to do one…
Read More

Me and contemplative prayer — a love-hate relationship

I begin with this title because it is my truth.  As a spiritual director, I am often asked about contemplative prayer as a practice.  And, if I tell the truth about it, most of my own seeking life, I have danced a couple of different dances with these ideas, contemplation and contemplative prayer.  One dance looks like an angry Tarantella, with contemplation in the role of the spider.  The other dance looks a lot more like the pas de deux from a grand ballet.  In some situations, the idea of what it means to live in contemplation as expressed by teachers or groups has made me feel excluded, an outsider, because…
Read More